Music/gigs

[Upside Down]

This should fit on the shelf nicely between My Bloody Valentine and New Order 

[GHR]

On 22/07/2025 at 20:56, Upside Down said:

Ozzy Osbourne 

Rest In Power 

Yep, very sad one this. Was lucky enough to see them on their The End tour back in February 2017, though of course that was without Bill Ward, and I have done the pilgrimage to Mapledurham Water Mill near Reading for no reason other than that is the artwork that launched a music genre I adore.

Probably the only helpful thing to have come out of the 2022 Commonwealth Games was the renewal in public awareness it seemed to give Sabbath after Ozzy and Tony performed at the closing ceremony, which embodied itself when the bull mascot was saved from scrap, renamed Ozzy by public vote and now resides as an utterly huge monument to him on the concourse of New Street station.

After that came the Black Sabbath bench on the freshly-named Black Sabbath bridge on Broad Street, and, in the weeks leading up to the Villa Park gig, a mural right by New Street station, which was bedecked in flowers, photos and even a headstone when I dropped by after work last week. A particularly touching element was all the handwritten notes, some from countries thousands of miles away, paying tribute not only to his character, but the impact Sabbath, and the community of the genre they created, had had on them.

It is very easy and indeed fun just to think of Ozzy and all his quotes and capers, but we should never forget the unfathomable influence particularly those first four albums had on music. I am happy at least that he survived to see the manifestation of that at Villa Park only a few weeks ago.

Edited 3 hours ago by GHR